Get the audience actively involved quickly. Make the content appear relevant and generate buy-in. Make it their program and not yours! Demonstrate your interest in them by immediately getting them participating.
Use Visuals that have Impact. Keep the concept understandable and clear and do not go overboard and make the visuals distracting. Many people report they are Powerpointed to death these days -- simple is engaging. Keep them occupied visually, auditorially and kinesthetically!
Simple is better than cluttered. Repeated borders and multicolored company logos on every single slide can be annoying, especially if they do not add to content. Keep ideas to only a few on each page. And consider the Thiagi Test: If you put it on the floor at your feet, can you read it? If not, recreate!
Don't physically touch the projector screen. This often moves it and when you let go, it moves back. You also get in the way of the image most of the time. If you are using an overhead, use a pencil or pen or even one of the specially crafted "pointing hands" or similar. Use a laser pencil, which have become amazingly cheap, to highlight computer projected images. But also be careful not to shine that baby in someone's eyes since it can do major damage. Some pointer or stick also works fine.
Stay away from the screen unless you are doing shadow images intentionally. I generally sit when I am doing a series of visuals to prevent myself from being the focus of attraction or to simply get out of the way. Watch the sightlines. Shadows on the screen (or elbows stuck in the output of the overhead mirror) are very distracting for most people.
You can make your own pointer from cardboard or plastic with a pair of scissors or you can create an opaque pointer printing with ink on a transparency film.
If you are using visuals as the main part of the presentation, as I do quite often, make THEM the main part of the presentation and get yourself out of the way.
Use a simple laser pointer but do not get carried away/
For presentation magic with an overhead projector, go to Radio Shack and buy a $25 switching unit. You can plug an overhead projector into this unit and turn it on and off remotely. (Not sure about their availability in countries using 220 VAC). In that way, you can put an overhead on the "off" projector and turn it on from across the room.
Turn the LCD projector "off" when you are not referring to a visual - there are a variety of ways to do that, ranging from pressing B on the keyboard to using a USB Remote that has a blanking function. I will often simply put a piece of paper in front of the lens if I have it on a table.
Colored film - A simple and elegant as well as cost saving suggestion is to print your slides in black on white paper and simply photocopy them onto colored transparency film. I use green film for "go," blue film for "credibility," yellow film for "caution" and red film for "danger." Very good and very inexpensive colored film is available from this website's shopping cart directly - I've been using it for 8 years and it is reliable and simple. Most photocopy machines can handle it easily.
Use overlays with overheads. Use clear film and cut out images or simply overlay them on the others that are done in colored film.
Use round tables - and sit no more than 6 people per table to maximize participation and involvement. Fewer is okay, but one person is more likely to dominate conversation in smaller groups. Bigger groups become committees and people will not get involved, opting out in many cases.
Tilt the screen forward at the top to minimize keystoning of the image. Most screens are made that way now but most people do not seem to know what that funny thing is on the top -- it is an extension. Nine times in ten, even the professional AV people do not set the screens up right!
Tape the overhead with masking tape to create a dark frame around your transparencies. Use double or triple tape at the bottom so that it sets up quickly and straight. This also eliminates the extraneous light around the periphery of the image, making it look more professional. And the masking tape pulls off easily with no residue.
Use the On / Off switch selectively. In the old days, they suggested that you turn off the overhead projector before changing images. But I think this was before the advent of mass production of these overhead transparencies. Turning off the overhead to change it and then turning it back on repeatedly will cause the bulb to burn out on occasion or cause epileptic seizures (or at least a headache) in some participants. Leave the thing ON. Use a piece of paper in front of the LCD unit.
Don't leave the OHP screen white (blank) for extended periods - you can turn it off when you are done with that theme or image and will not be transitioning into a new one. Do this also when you are in a general question and answer period.
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